IMAGINE YOUR COUNTRY has been attacked, intimidated and deliberately impoverished by the world’s most powerful nation for nearly 70 years. Now imagine that, in spite of everything the world’s most powerful nation and its allies have thrown at your country, it has remained standing, proud and unbowed. Further imagine that, through the efforts of its most astute and courageous military commander, your country’s power and influence has grown and spread in ways not seen for a thousand years. Finally, imagine that the world’s most powerful nation has just blown that military commander to pieces with a Hellfire missile.
How would you feel? What would you do?
Such was Iran’s dilemma.
The solution the Iranian Islamic Republic settled upon bears testimony to the wisdom born of the Iranian/Persian people’s three thousand year history. It drew its metaphorical sword, waited until the USA lifted its metaphorical shield, and then tossed its deadliest weapon contemptuously at the attacker’s feet. There are many kinds of sword and many ways to use them. If General Qasem Soleimani taught his people anything, it was always to fight the Americans and their allies on your terms – not theirs.
It is a lesson the rest of the world will also have to learn – and quickly. With the USA no longer interested in even trying to disguise its imperial ambitions, it has become necessary to tread extremely carefully on the international stage. Bold assertions of national sovereignty, especially in the form of passionate protests against US policy, are likely to be interpreted in Washington as acts prejudicial to the national security of the United States – and responded to accordingly. Small countries, like New Zealand, must be particularly circumspect, lest they be turned into an example of what happens to little states foolish enough to think they can ruffle the American Eagle’s feathers with impunity.
We all need to grasp the evolving reality of America’s economic, cultural and military vulnerability and how it is being manifested at home and abroad. The Trump presidency was no accident. How else was the potential eclipse of White, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant privilege to be headed-off except by enlisting as many of the White working-class as possible in the struggle to preserve what is now openly presented as their common racial supremacy?
The vulgarisation of American politics matches perfectly the steady incorporation of the “poorly educated” (and the even more poorly paid) into the ranks of the Republican Party. Trump’s political genius has been to embrace and embody those values and prejudices which the best educated and best paid Americans most vehemently reject and despise. In the simplest terms: to become the most thoroughly deplorable specimen in Hillary Clinton’s infamous “basket of deplorables”.
This deliberate presidential embrace of wilful ignorance, crude racism and religious bigotry renders the task of maintaining the United States’ global ascendancy much easier. The need to dress up American self-interest in the rhetorical finery of a Kennedy or an Obama is no longer so pressing. While the USA is still able to wield unchallengeable military power its economic dominance will remain unassailable. The more obvious this linkage becomes, the more useful it is to present to the world the uncomplicated and unrepentant face of American hegemony. Trump’s insouciant truculence fits the bill nicely.
The White House ceremony (it would be wrong to call it a press conference) in which the President gracelessly accepted the Iranian Government’s de-escalation of the international crisis which he, himself, had unleashed by authorising Soleimani’s assassination, was a vivid illustration of the new reality in world affairs.
Thomas Jefferson’s acknowledgement in the American Declaration of Independence that “a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that [a people] should declare the causes which impel them” towards actions of historical significance, was nowhere in evidence. “Mankind’s” opinion of America and its diplomacy turns out to be about as relevant today as the United Nations’ Charter.
Trump’s admixture of threats, lies and vainglorious boasts was all “mankind” was getting. Having delivered his proclamation, the President and his bevy of bemedaled generals turned on their heels and left the room by the same high doors through which they had entered, which then closed insolently behind them. So, one imagines, did Roman Emperors pronounce upon the affairs of empire: briskly, brusquely, and with the just the right “sneer of cold command”.
When Iran’s secular, democratically-elected Prime Minister, Mossadegh, was deposed by the joint machinations of Britain’s MI6 and America’s CIA in 1953 (for the unforgiveable sin of attempting to use Iran’s oil for the benefit of Iran’s people!) their involvement was a closely guarded secret. Caught in the Manichean coils of the Cold War, the USA had to at least pretend to be the champion of freedom and popular sovereignty. Seventy years later, however, America doesn’t feel the need to even try. What the Iranian political class learned behind closed doors in 1953: that their country’s future was now in American hands; Donald Trump shares openly and unashamedly with the whole world in 2020.
And yet, the Shah imposed upon them in 1953 was himself deposed in the Iranian Revolution of 1978, and the present Islamic Republic proclaimed the following year. Nothing in this world lasts forever. Not Shahs; not Ayatollahs; not Generals: not even Presidents. It was the ancestors of present-day Iranians who invented the game of Chess. A pity then, for the American people, that Donald Trump has yet to master the game of Checkers.
What I got from the Trump speech the other day was that the USA has all the fuel it needs and doesn’t need oil from the Middle East. I didn’t get that that meant they’re getting out of the region since the need to protect oil supplies has gone.
I got out of it that again the Head Prefect, The Boss, will tell independent countries what they can have in their munitions cupboards. The old saying comes to mind, “Who died and left you in charge?” Which brings practically into focus the bizarre reality that the fate of the world, the billions on the planet, is in the hands and the terminally flawed mind and personality of Donald Trump.
He craves the status Kim Jong Un, he hates the UN and Nato and as they limit his being able to be seen as the emporer.
amerikan insistence on total control of the hydrocarbon reserves of the Middle East has nothing to do with the energy needs of amerika’s population and everything to do with the need to keep the US dollar as the international reserve country thereby giving the empire the power to control any society anywhere on this planet with a flick of the ‘sanctions’ switch.
When Nixon moved the USD off the gold standard. see : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixon_shock (sorry bout using wikipedia but am in a rush)
Nixon did this because of the mountain of loans required to finance the INdochina defeat had caused inflation to run rampant, so a different solution was required.
Dollars would be no longer convertible to anything tangible or valuable, instead all the nations which traded with amerika and had a dollar surplus would be forced to buy US treasury bonds with that surplus. Back then Germany & Japan were the unlucky nations in that category. Somehow Germany has managed to hold on, but Japan lost out big time in the 1990’s when they lost control of some of their biggest conglomerates in return for a swathe of over-priced amerikan real estate. Twenty five years later Japan is still suffering the consequences of that error/rort and this is likely the reason why Japan’s leadership resisted Carlos Ghosn attempts to move control of Nissan offshore into the control of an EU/amerika conglomerate.
If amerika does lose near total control of the world’s economy via the USD, it will be all over for the empire. Hence the balls to the wall struggle with China which is making moves amerika believes are preparatory to creating some version of the Yuan as an alternative reserve.
The BRIC group (Brazil, Russia, India & China) was the first overt move and the belt and road initiative, a program to establish integrated trading outside the purview of the empire, between about 70 sovereign nations, terrifies amerika as is revealed by US network cnbc’s paranoid take on it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACbbz0rOv6A
There is a major confrontation coming and IMO the best solution for a small nation like Aotearoa, is to stay right away from being a satrap of either side.
I have no doubt that some amerikan somewhere in Aotearoa is trying to do what Steve Bannon is trying in Europe. see https://www.newsweek.com/steve-bannon-trump-european-elections-1434592
Amerika see their best bet is playing the white supremacist card, amerika is owned and managed by whitefellas, the ‘other mob’ not so much. As diverse as the participants in the belt and road initiative are, they are mos def unwhitefellas, hence Bannon’s attempts to encourage kneejerk reactions against unwhites and positive thoughts for pasty ‘n flabby old cucks such as himself.
We need to come down hard on any politician or political party which takes money from any foreign entity at the same time as we ditch five eyes our intelligence co-operative which forgot to tell us that France was going to blow up ships in our harbours and also omitted to mention that israeli murderers and terrorists were stealing kiwi passports. God knows what other outrages have occurred since then as the government was harrased into reforming the long abolished special branch as the innocuous sounding ‘diplomatic squad’.
It was agents of the diplomatic squad which pushed the government to block the arrest of israeli war criminal Moshe Ya’alon.
The role of the diplomatic squad appears to be to prevent ’embarrassments’ such as the arrests of employees of foreign intelligence agents caught committing crimes here.
I no longer have any faith that kiwi passports aren’t still accessed by mossad or shin beth, an action that endangers every kiwi traveler. NZ’s response – letting a paid killer shield his face in court something not permitted for any other defendant, combined with the ludicrously low , actually no, punishment showed us to be that worst of all characters a loudmouthed hypocrite too weak to stand up for the justice we demand of others.
This is one of many reasons why we must take a position of active neutrality in the war between empires so ditching five eyes plus any so called defense agreements with any nation which is not a near neigbour. Agreements with Oz should be independent of other nations. amerika has such complete control over Oz it is inevitable that Australia will be dragged into the coming conflict, but that does not mean we should as well.
Its a mistake to that war is any different to how it was conducted in WW2. Our advances in technology allows us to conduct war in slightly different ways but it’s still assassination, espionage, sieging, blockading and so on.
It would be a grave error to give up all the good will and savings New Zealand has collected since WW2 for a threat that doesn’t exist.
What goodwill? You are aware that the invoice amerika sent Aotearoa for ‘protecting’ us from Japan (who amerika went out of its way to provoke with sanctions and blockades) is the surrender of more than half the area of Antartica held by Aotearoa. Brit claims to antactica date from the 1830’s when the englanders used illegal possesion of the falklands as a basis for an england nee UK claim.
Aotearoa was bust for much of the 19th century oppressing the indigenous population so it wasn’t until Julius Vogel had done his railroad land rort and all the aggrieved had been silenced that Aotearoa’s gang of idealistic or selfserving pols (yep a few contortionists managed to hold both positions simultaneously) that Aotearoa claimed and then ratified that claim to a decent chunk of Antarctca.
see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Territorial_claims_in_Antarctica
Then the seppos demand 60% of it? For what? Why? Calling Aotearoa’s kowtowing to the US ‘Goodwill’, is the same as a small business owner thanking a gangster racket for being kind enough to take 60% of the takings for protection.
Debsisdead:
What’s that you devilishly insightful sage? Human greed, jealousy and ambition are the true monsters of this world. You’re just blowing us away with originality now aren’t you.
There’s also a growing revelation that US can’t hide its imperial ambitions behind thinly veiled words of democracy and peace that lead up to every invasion since WW2. All of these lies will eventually catch up to each other before America start invading other countries in an effort to save the world and that’s it. That’s basically Bill Clintons Foreign policy.
So what the hell do we make of all this and well I expected that our own government would pull a Hellen Clark and go not with out a UN resolution that could deliver plenty of violence and wouldn’t ask to much of its allies. While I’m correct about the violence and okay allies apart my expectation.
Foreign policy is a complex and demanding timeline that requires people to pay attention. As a New Zealand citizen there isn’t much I can do about America but I can do my small part in what New Zealand does and retain lots of information to understand what’s happening and this is no easy task for a man with alcohol induced brain damage. There will be no handholding with this one with lots of comforting expositions and nations building exercises. We’re constantly thrown into it with no research costs and expected to figure it all out.
To be honest I think pulling out of Fveyes and telling NZDF they can’t have any friends is an operational transgression of the highest order. Firstly I will say that there are things that NZDF does exceptional well starting off with our number 8 wire attitude and underfunding. I’m insure about the top brass and there ability to play politics to secure funding. But actually seeing defence force chiefs in action they get that there role is to lie and clearly they shouldn’t have a problem killing people who piss them off.
NZDF is not the type of organisation that agonises over what they do which isn’t pity or self doubt. That being said there’s just enough humanity beneath it it to give them a redeeming edge.
The top brass in NZDF have to be approved by the yanks before they are appointed. No independence there.
So what kind of infinitely cunning chess move was the shooting down of a civilian airliner that had just taken off from Tehran airport?
Not a Chess move at all. Merely the tragic outcome of a military apparatus on a hair trigger – just like the crew of the USS Vincennes who shot down a commercial Iranian airliner in 1983.
I doubt if anything like it would have happened if the US President hadn’t ordered the assassination of General Soleimani – thereby raising regional tensions to a level where a tragedy of this kind became almost inevitable.
You would also do well to remember that there were scores of Iranian citizens on that flight, along with 60-odd Canadians, many of whom were of Iranian ancestry.
And the infinitely cunning chess move to call it a “technical malfunction” before the wreckage has even finished burning? Or the infinitely cunning chess move to claim it couldn’t have been Iran or the pilots wouldn’t have tried to make it back to Tehran airport?
How about the infinitely cunning chess move to know you’ve shot the fucker down and then lie about it. Taking lessons from their buddy Puty poot?
I’ve no doubt it’s a tragic mistake but you can draw conclusions from the actions of the actors after the event.
Except for the Russians and the Korean airliner over Kamchatka… that was a deliberate act by scumbags who’d ID it as a civilian plane.
Of course it wouldn’t have happened if the US President hadn’t ordered the assassination of General Soleimani. Missiles were being fired around because of that.
Victims, on the flight were from Canada, Germany, UK, Sweden, Ukraine, Afghanistan and Iran. Trump has been very angsty about the possibility of any American being killed. Their blood is on his hands.
Bit puzzled by these comments
Has the investigation been completed?
I missed it
“ICAO continues to call for diminished speculation on the possible causes of the accident until the Annex 13 investigation is permitted to be concluded and its official results are confirmed.”
https://www.icao.int/Newsroom/Pages/Official-notification-received-from-Iran-on-Flight-PS-752-accident.aspx
The news coming in seems to be hardening that, while this was indeed an Iranian missile that brought the plane done, it was fired in error, and given that Iranians commanders in the field were on high alert for the possibility of an American attack. While this scenario is of course being denied by Iranian officials, one can imagine that, behind the scenes, some furious words are being spoken.
Why do you accept the claim that this “was indeed an Iranian missile that brought the plane done”, when there’s no evidence yet to suggest that?
Well Iran has cleared the debris field, by bulldozer, before the Ukrainian investigators arrived and then left it open to scavengers… as you do if you’ve got nothing to hide.
Bellingcat has a nice summary and geolocation of the site where a video was taken here https://www.bellingcat.com/news/mena/2020/01/09/video-apparently-showing-flight-ps572-missile-strike-geolocated-to-iranian-suburb/
There’s even photos of the radar seeker nose of a Tor M1 missile that detaches before impact purportedly on the ground in Tehran.
Iranian officials have admitted to shooting down the commercial jet.
And Iran finally admits what only the clueless could have been confused about..
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/middle-east/118731355/iran-says-it-unintentionally-shot-down-ukrainian-jetliner
Perhaps it’s the CIA pretending to be Iran?
I think it is a bit early to draw a solid conclusion as there are too many technical inconsistencies to be explored.
The US has history shooting down civilian airplanes, I’m sure it was a mistake but have not seen enough evidence to decide which side did it.
False flag incident. It was a Ukrainian plane. Iran will be blamed.
Any US “evidence” should be ignored but noted as to what their intentions are.
Correction about false flags. There are so many and it fitted the pattern, which must always be tested preferably before the US MSM fixes information / misinformation in the public mind.
The US fighters buzzing Iran and close by were a factor in the confusion.
What the hell were they doing there.
I have no firm opinion on what happened to the Ukrainian plane as there is no substantiated evidence one way or other. That said, I am I the only person who finds the fact the meta data which details where and when a photo and/or a video was taken has been stripped out of all the photographic evidence. I am also interested to know why the video which commenced before missile was launched happened to be made in the 1st place.?
It is far from ‘normal’ to strip all metadata out. As it stands there is no way of knowing when or where the snaps of Tor M-1 missile parts were made, much less the video. If both are real why strip that important information which could prove the veracity of the visual evidence, out.
Hmm. Although the sun was only just over the yardarm when this was posted it is apparent the intoxicants were imbalanced. I apologise and trust that some get the gist.
I imagine you’re perfectly capable of nutting out why an Iranian citizen might want all metadata stripped out of any videos provided to the Great Satan’s media.
Aaaand just in case you missed it. One of the people who took video of the shootdown has been taken into Revolutionary Guards custody according to Iran’s semi-official news provider Far News. Getting the picture yet?
It would be interesting to survey residents of both NZ and the US to discover what percentage of them are aware of Mossadegh and the role the US and Britain played in removing him from office and replacing him with a vicious dictator. 1%? 0.1%? 0.01%?
Gotta keep the black gold flowing through the Straits of Hormuz, otherwise the global economy goes into tailspin.
As for ‘Making America great’ again via drilling for shale oil and fracking the substructure of the land pieces, well that particular play will come to an ignominious end some time over the next decade, as depletion rates outstrip new drilling, leaving the US further up the creek without a paddle than when it started. Then the fighting over the last of the easily-extracted oil will really be in earnest.
Meanwhile, the planet will continue to overheat as never before, as crazed societies convert yet more fossil fuel into CO2
Bradbury you’re an arrogant, fascistic, traitorous ego maniac. You embody everything that’s wrong with our nation. Watch your back you cancerous prick, we know your movements, we’re coming for you!! I bet you run to the cops when you get this you pathetic weakling.
@ Our Party.
Well, I don’t know Martyn Bradbury personally so he might be some or all of those things you say he is.
But you, are a fucking idiot, no one can argue that. You wouldn’t last long on a MB crusade because you, dumb ass, have failed to notice that it was Chris Trotter who wrote this most excellent piece.
Now? Seize your little diddle, or what ever you have, and go and play with it somewhere out of harms way and leave the adults to do the thinking.
Pull your head in hay seed you don’t know the full story. There’s a selective censorship character assassination campaign going on here being run by a bruised ego who can’t handle a few home truths. Johnny Overton
How should we handle people who grandstand? Should we point out there flaws and weaknesses to the point they start to resemble our own? I think the only way we can respond to woke radical trolls both left and right who put so much heart and sole into writing a comment and withheld publication.
Ad hominem attacks are an indicator of a weak, or no strategy.
Assisting the misinformed is probably more useful but once some people have an idea fixed they can often be resistant to change.
Then there are trolls
WHERE TO GET HELP if you think you are Porangi or you know someone who is:
1737, Need to talk? – Free call or text 1737 to talk to a trained counsellor
Lifeline.org.nz – 0800 543 354 (open 24/7)
Rural Support Trust – 0800 787 254 (0800 RURAL HELP)
Depression.org.nz – 0800 111 757 or text 4202
Suicide Crisis Helpline – 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO)
Youthline.co.nz – 0800 376 633, free text 234, email talk@youthline.co.nz
Kidsline.org.nz – 0800 54 37 54 for people up to 18 years old (open 24/7)
thelowdown.co.nz – Web chat, email chat or free text 5626
Supporting Families in Mental Illness – 0800 732 825
We know that.
I see you have made this threat more than once, maybe you need to learn that quantity is not a substitute for quality. Any person of sound mind will observe that MB allowed your comment along with the language you use to make the logical conclusion that you are mentally unwell.
Hullo an ad hominem attack.
What gives.
Oh, not another ad hominem 😀
This going both ways, just hoping for the full picture to emerge & a fair go.
Party boy, I’v put my faith in the Moderators of The Daily Blog to do what is in the best interest of the community because I to have comments withheld for what ever reasons. A lot of us have comments withheld. People who are okay with that know that they have our best interests at heart because banning people from this site is even more rare.
Nothing to hide, hah. Love the dictate.
Wow what’s up your bum ‘our party’
Our Party- I suggest that it may be you who embodies much of what is wrong with this ignorant post-colonial outpost. I hope that Martyn Bradbury does refer your threats to the police, and that you are able to get the help which you need.
Making threats is not a good move Our Party. If you don’t like what’s posted here, then go to another site.
Our Party is a BIG Dickhead. Chris Trotter did this one you jerk. Both are well respected on this site.
Wow, you really need to come out and show us how you really feel!
Come on Simon, we know it’s you!
Our party is johnny overton, go figure. I seek martyrdom!! Nothing left to loose, so being metaphorically torn to pieces by a raging gang of TBD cult followers should do it. Who the fucks perfect you pathetic wankers.
Interesting, but expressing threats may be very counter productive. Criticism is justified, but do not invite the nasty law enforcement.
Dear Moderator
Of your mercy – please let the posting stand.
Can’t tell whether it’s a quote or an original effusion… But interesting. Good to know we have our own venom streams.
I see the intellectuals are popping out of the cupboard. Had to scroll to the top of the page to check that blog by CT.
You people just don’t get it, do you? Iran is NEVER going to seriously confront the USA and Trump knows exactly what he is doing. The Iranians took out a Ukrainian passenger plane, murdering all on board, and otherwise hit nothing substantial. Or as one wit put it, they killed 2 chickens in the Iraqi Green Zone and spooked the camp goat. Hilarious.
Gaby – You just don’t get it do you ? The Iranians apparently murdered everyone on board a Ukrainian plane, and you say that it’s hilarious.
There is nothing hilarious about it at all.
This is exactly what NZ’ers concerned about what the SAS did to innocent farming families in the Tirigan Valley want addressed: the dehumanising and depersonalising of foreigners killed at a comfortable distance.
They are people like – or perhaps better than – we are, who have lost their lives, through no fault of their own.
You may see this as “nothing substantial”. I see your view as amoral.
Hop off your elevated equine, Applewood. I said the Iranians pathetic token response was hilarious, not the shooting down of the airliner. That is tragic. And don’t be slagging off our soldier boys, either. The Russians killed one million civilians during their invasion of Afghanistan. Maybe you can express your moral outrage about that.
“The chairman of the Russian parliament’s foreign affairs committee said on Saturday morning that Iran should “learn lessons” from the disaster.”
Presumably the lessons the Russians are referring to are… “never admit anything!” Those f…ing scumbags.
Russians under Putin are one lot, under a perhaps democratic government they may behave differently, just a thought.
…because Emperor Jinping Xi of the racist, bigoted Han Chinese dictatorship was duly elected…
How about a CGT Fran O’Sullivan in drag?
You certainly do have a lot of hot air to puff out about the Chinese @ Castro but what’s your thoughts on our real enemies?
Our own home grown crooks?
douglas, richardson, shipley, bolger, gibb, fay, richwhite, hart, chandler, etc, etc, etc…
They, were the ones who’ve done us in dipshit. Not the Chinese, not the Indians, Not the Indonesians, Not the Mexicans, not the Iranians, not the Iraqi’s, not the Germans, French or Italians, not the Greeks, not the Africans, not the Colombians, not the Venezuelans, not the Japanese, not the Swedes, not the Dutch, not the Irish, the Mohicans, Australian aboriginals nor Maori. Nope. None of those, you racist little dick.
It was our own, snow white, flabby arsed, loser, money fetishist cult who fucked us and I could be forgiven for thinking they’re using the likes of you, what ever you are, to deflect and diffuse.
Well, little thing, you’ll have to try harder. These, are new and enlightened times.
Thanks in the main part to the loyal and extraordinary efforts of Martyn Bradbury, Chris Trotter and the others here who put their time down as well spent trying to protect us from ourselves, and from the likes of you.
Can you do me one favour?
Please, don’t mate with @ Our Party above.
Excellent.
Sad
Lee Siegel said, “If President Trump is indeed mentally ill, as so many of his critics claim, he may well be the most representative leader we have ever had.” Could that apply to the other leaders?
“The next measures of the Islamic Republic of Iran will be proportional to the Americans’ actions and this can go on,” Brigadier General Hatami said on Wednesday after the cabinet meeting.
https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/443961/Iran-s-defense-chief-vows-proportional-response-to-any-U-S
The Iranians were never going too give the Americans the opportunity too blow them off the map in any move of retaliation on their part.
” The solution the Iranian Islamic Republic settled upon bears testimony to the wisdom born of the Iranian/Persian people’s three thousand year history ”
Trump has picked the right enemy as it allows him too risk a regional war knowing that he wont provoke the Iranians into one but just being prepared too go too war in Americas interests and stand up too rogue nations will help in the coming campaign.
As Trotter says, we’re still dealing with the legacy of those infamous events 1953. The case of the downed airliner is still “up in the air”, so to speak (horrible joke, but it just tumbled out). But does this tweet by Khameini really testify “to the wisdom born of the Iranian/Persian people’s three thousand year history.”? https://twitter.com/khamenei_ir/status/1212301034871279616?lang=en
I’m not sure about that Mr. Trotter.
Airliner issue resolved now:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-51073621
Or do you want to adhere to conspiracy theories?
Not quite Mike. BBC stuff is purposeful.
There is much more to be explore yet.
America has no economic vulnerability, it is the richest nation in the world who has decided to spend trillions on endless wars and who instead of using their wealth to make the world a better place has sanctioned the world to literal death. The have no military vulnerability either being the world’s most sophisticated army; you only have to look at the sheer number of US military bases surrounding Iran that you realise American neocons have a psychological disease of domination and a pathological inclination for conflict and antagonism.
Yes many Chinese are racists Castro and they have a bloody cheek when they are in our fucken country but they ain’t the only ones.
That’s not my expeince of Chinese people that Iv worked and played with. In my experience Chinese immigrants are eager to integrate into New Zealand society.
Chinese are superior to NZers, do you doubt this?
2nd time lucky for this post?
amerikan insistence on total control of the hydrocarbon reserves of the Middle East has nothing to do with the energy needs of amerika’s population and everything to do with the need to keep the US dollar as the international reserve country thereby giving the empire the power to control any society anywhere on this planet with a flick of the ‘sanctions’ switch.
When Nixon moved the USD off the gold standard. see : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixon_shock (sorry bout using wikipedia but am in a rush)
Nixon did this because of the mountain of loans required to finance the INdochina defeat had caused inflation to run rampant, so a different solution was required.
Dollars would be no longer convertible to anything tangible or valuable, instead all the nations which traded with amerika and had a dollar surplus would be forced to buy US treasury bonds with that surplus. Back then Germany & Japan were the unlucky nations in that category. Somehow Germany has managed to hold on, but Japan lost out big time in the 1990’s when they lost control of some of their biggest conglomerates in return for a swathe of over-priced amerikan real estate. Twenty five years later Japan is still suffering the consequences of that error/rort and this is likely the reason why Japan’s leadership resisted Carlos Ghosn attempts to move control of Nissan offshore into the control of an EU/amerika conglomerate.
If amerika does lose near total control of the world’s economy via the USD, it will be all over for the empire. Hence the balls to the wall struggle with China which is making moves amerika believes are preparatory to creating some version of the Yuan as an alternative reserve.
The BRIC group (Brazil, Russia, India & China) was the first overt move and the belt and road initiative, a program to establish integrated trading outside the purview of the empire, between about 70 sovereign nations, terrifies amerika as is revealed by US network cnbc’s paranoid take on it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACbbz0rOv6A
There is a major confrontation coming and IMO the best solution for a small nation like Aotearoa, is to stay right away from being a satrap of either side.
I have no doubt that some amerikan somewhere in Aotearoa is trying to do what Steve Bannon is trying in Europe. see https://www.newsweek.com/steve-bannon-trump-european-elections-1434592
Amerika see their best bet is playing the white supremacist card, amerika is owned and managed by whitefellas, the ‘other mob’ not so much. As diverse as the participants in the belt and road initiative are, they are mos def unwhitefellas, hence Bannon’s attempts to encourage kneejerk reactions against unwhites and positive thoughts for pasty ‘n flabby old cucks such as himself.
We need to come down hard on any politician or political party which takes money from any foreign entity at the same time as we ditch five eyes our intelligence co-operative which forgot to tell us that France was going to blow up ships in our harbours and also omitted to mention that israeli murderers and terrorists were stealing kiwi passports. God knows what other outrages have occurred since then as the government was harrased into reforming the long abolished special branch as the innocuous sounding ‘diplomatic squad’.
It was agents of the diplomatic squad which pushed the government to block the arrest of israeli war criminal Moshe Ya’alon.
The role of the diplomatic squad appears to be to prevent ’embarrassments’ such as the arrests of employees of foreign intelligence agents caught committing crimes here.
I no longer have any faith that kiwi passports aren’t still accessed by mossad or shin beth, an action that endangers every kiwi traveler. NZ’s response – letting a paid killer shield his face in court something not permitted for any other defendant, combined with the ludicrously low , actually no, punishment showed us to be that worst of all characters a loudmouthed hypocrite too weak to stand up for the justice we demand of others.
This is one of many reasons why we must take a position of active neutrality in the war between empires so ditching five eyes plus any so called defense agreements with any nation which is not a near neigbour. Agreements with Oz should be independent of other nations. amerika has such complete control over Oz it is inevitable that Australia will be dragged into the coming conflict, but that does not mean we should too.
I suppose there is one thing that the Iranian Military has shown the world. That is, their Execution of an Inter Ballistic Missile Surgical Strike Attack! The images of the barracks that were taken out were very clear.
I wonder if the Pentagon analysts have checked them out yet?
And if the downing of the airliner does turn out to be a terrible mistake, people might like to do some reading on the murder of almost 300 men women and children ( by mistake of course) by the murrican uss vincennes. With great pomp and scumbaggery, medals were awarded to the crew for this act of savagery.
https://www.britannica.com/event/Iran-Air-flight-655
https://www.warhistoryonline.com/history/iran-flight-655-shot-uss-vincennes.html
Oh yeah:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cue78H7Zdc
I’d like to see us pull out of the five eyes, I’d like to see us develop our own genuine and independent foreign policy’s, I’d like to see us form international friendships on a trade only basis , not any military obligations to be in any sort of ‘ club ‘, I’d like to curb foreign land purchase / resource use and if it happens to ensure we get a handsome ongoing cut as well .
OK , … my middle name must be Pollyanna , and the above is just too simplistic,… I guess. But you must admit,… the bargaining chip quality of the above for those vying for our ear would be … tremendous.
* One other thing, however, perhaps also a caveat on our politicians striking massively lucrative private business deals with large ( or any ) foreign nations. We pay them handsomely enough in salary’s as it is . That would put a stop to their vested interests influencing foreign policy’s and dragging us all along with it…
Keep dreaming, the dictatorship you live in will NEVER allow this. And you put up with it.
Official ISIS Newspaper ‘Thanks God’ for Trump Killing Iran’s General Soleimani
” It was only a matter of time before US President Donald Trump got the recognition he deserved for America’s military exploits these past two weeks. Yesterday, Trump received glowing praise from the official international ISIS newspaper, Al Naba, highlighting Washington’s assassination of Iranian IRGC’s General Qasem Soleimani on January 3rd.
In an ideal world, this latest endorsement by ISIS for Trump’s actions should really put to rest the well-worn Washington and Israeli propaganda talking point that Soleimani was an “evil and deadly terrorist.” Unfortunately, the current American political discourse is so thoroughly coated in layers of political fiction that this might take a while to sink in. ”
https://21stcenturywire.com/2020/01/11/official-isis-newspaper-thanks-god-for-trump-killing-irans-general-soleimani/
” I said it..I knew it.. it’s true..he had to prove himself.. like your first kill in the army ‘ jason Liosatos
AKBAR TRUMP! AKBAR TRUMP! AKBAR TRUMP! AKBAR TRUMP!
Akbar in Arabic means More! More! More! More!
ISIS will be doing come celebratory beheadings today: Their rock bottom stock is looking up again! AKBAR TRUMP!!
Trump reportedly told associates he killed Qassem Soleimani because he was under pressure from GOP senators before his impeachment trial
https://news.yahoo.com/trump-reportedly-told-associates-killed-162634145.html
Abby Martin sits down with Dan Kovalik, human rights attorney and author of the book “The Plot to Attack Iran,” to discuss the context to Trump’s recent attacks, the most common myths about the country, and the history of US plots.
The Plot to Attack Iran – Myths, Oil & Revolution
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8Zb8615ib0
Trump is a nationalist.
Whilst nationalist and imperialist are not mutually exclusive, he is far less imperialist than any president in my living memory.
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